Process of producing artificial leather.



T. J. TURNER.

PROCESS 0F PRODUCING ARTIFICIAL LEATHER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPLS. |914. IIEIIEWED nic. 19,1911.

l 269339 Pmend June 11, 1918.

2 SHEE HEET l.

IIIIIH ITIIIITIIIIIIIIIII ik MUNI Il T. .l TURNER.

PROCESS 0F PRODUCING ARTIFICIAL LEATHER.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.3. I9I4. RENEWEI) DEC. 19.1911.

1,269,389, y PutentodJuno 11. 19I8.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I"I I IIIIIII Vio .. IQI@ l THOMAS J'. TURNER, 0F WILMINGTUN, DELAWARE,ASSIGNORTO E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS :POWDER COMPANY, F WILMING'IGN,

OF NEW JERSEY.

DELaw, A conrona'rrom' PROCESS 01E' PEODUCING RTIFIGIL LEATHER.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, THoMAs J TURNER, of Wilmington, in the county of NewCastle, and in the State of Delaware, have invented a certain newanduseful Improvement in Processes of Producing Artificial Leather, anddo hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescrip# tion thereof.

i methods of producing artificial leather by the use of nitrocellulosecompositions.

The object of my invention is to provide a process Ofthis character inwhich the nitrocellulosecomposition may be applied to the fabric in aconvenient and rapid manner. A further to provide a process of thischaracter in which old nitrocellulose compositions may be used in th bereworked. This enables scrap Celluloid to e production of the artificialleatherin accordance with my invention.

While my invention is capable of embodi- 'ment in many different forms,for the purposes of illustration I shall describe only one form thereofherein. Furthermore, for the purpose of illustration, I shall describeonly one form of apparatus in which my invention may be carried out, inthe :accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of amachine which may be used in connection with my process;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation in detail of a sha 1 on which the fabric iscarried when being fed into the machine;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of one of the wooden shuttles used forcarrying the fabric; and

,Fig 5 is an end elevation of one of the gears.

In the drawings I have shown a machine having a main frame 1, in whichthere are carried three rolls 2, 3, and 4. These rolls 2, 3 and 4 arecarried upon shafts 5, 6 and 7, respectively.` The shaft 6 of the middleroll 3 isv maintained in a fixed position in the main frame 1. Theshafts 5 and 7, however, are supported in vertically movable boxes 8 and9, which are\adapte to be adjustedl b v means of screws 10 and 11,supported in .the main frame 1 and having Specification of LettersPatent.

invention relates particularly to object of my invention is,

Patented JV 111ml@ lill, 11918.. Renewed December 19, 1917. Serial No.207,879.

' Worm wheels l2 and 13 on their ends which mesh with worms 1'4 and 15,carried by two -shafts 16 and 17, and adapted to be operated yby handles18 and 19. The shafts 5, '6 land carry near one end thereof, gears 20,21 and 22, which are keyed tothe shaft by means of removablekeys 23,said gears 20, 21 and 22 being all of the same size. Upon the other endof the said shafts 5, 6 and 7, areV carried gear-S124, 25 and 26, thegear 25 being smaller than the gears 24 and 26, v and said gears beingkeyed to their respective shaftsin a similar `manner to the gears 20, 21and 22. Only one of these sets of gears is use d -at a given time. Whenthe gears 20, 2l and 22 are used the keys are removed from gears 24 and26, and when the gears 24, 25 and 26 are used the keys are removed fromthe gears and 2,2. The gears 20, 21 and 22 are used when it is dethesame speed, and the gears 24, and 26 are used when it is desired to havethe top and bottom rolls move slower than the middle roll. The centralshaft'6 is extended at the one end of the machine so as to carry a largegear 27, which meshes with a small gear 28 having at one end thereof atight pulley 29 and a loose pulley 30. Guide 'plates 31 and 32 aresupported upon rods 3-3 and 34 from themain frame 1, said guide plates31 and 32 fitting against the adjacent faces of the rolls 2 and 3 toretain a body. of plastic material 35 in place thereon. Near the bottomof the main frame 1 supports ina pair of arms 36 a shaft 37 adapted toreceive a wooden bobbin 38 carrying a roll of fabric such as cloth to beprovided with a coating. J A friction band 39 extends around the shaft37, so as to retard the unwinding of the 'fabricand therefore maintainit taut. From the shaft 37, the fabric is fed over a guide roll 40,supported in the arms 36. From thisoint the fabric passes between therolls 3 an 4, where it receives a coating of plastic material from thebody of plastic material 35 on top of the fabric. 'After passinglbesired to have the rolls 2, 3 and 4 move at l -tween the rolls, thecoated fabric may be conveyed away and the dr and harden..

n thev operation of my invention with the machine above described, thecoating of plastic nitrocellulose composition, containcoating allowed toi l ing al latent solvent such as camphor, or

"some camphor substitute, is applied to the upper ,surface of the fabricbeing fed through the machine. 'llhe plastic composition'to be appliedmay advantageously be of the following composition Nitrocellulose 16%Camphor' 4% Pigment 5% Volatile solvent 40% oilf 35% After mixing theseconstituents to ay uniform plastic mass the solventis evaporated untilthe composition reaches the proper consistency to apply to the rolls.above referred to. l

The volatile solvent may be any of the I following: Ethyl alcohol,benzol, ethyl acetate, acetone, methyl acetone, etc., and the oil usedis preferably castor oil,'although other .oils may be used instead.

The pressure of the rolls anchors the plastic material permanently tothefabric y forcing the plastic composition into the' interstices offabric. After the coating has incassa from the spirit of. my ina coatingof a nitrocellulose plastic by means.

of calender rolls. y

2. The process of producing a coated fabric which comprises applying toa fabric a coating of a nitrocellulose plastic containing1 a latentsolvent by means of calender rol s. l

3. The process of producing a coated fabric which comprises applying toa fabric a coating of a nitrocellulose plastic containing camphor bymeans of calender rolls.l

4. The vprocessy of producing a coated fabric which comprises applyingto a fabric a coating of a nitrocellulose plastic containing camphor, avolatile solvent and an oil, by means of calender rolls.

5. `The process of producing a coated fabric which comprises applying toa fabric a coating of a nitrocellulose plastic containing camphor, ethylalcohol, and an oil, by means of calender rolls.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing l have hereunto set my hand.'

. THUMAS J. TURNER.

Witnesses:

RALPH S. Gnronn,

UILARLES E. OLD.

